Docker vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE comparison

Docker and Nutanix are both solutions in the Container Management category. Docker is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.9, while Nutanix is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.4. Docker holds a 2.7% mindshare in CM, compared to Nutanix’s 9.1% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Docker users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Nutanix users who would recommend it.

Docker

Read 56 Docker reviews

1,293 Views
1,017 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

Read 12 Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE reviews

2,908 Views
2,326 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Docker

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 13, 2024

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine and Docker compete in the container management industry. Docker has the upper hand due to its extensive ecosystem and wide adoption, despite NKE's strong integration with Nutanix infrastructure.

Features: NKE integrates seamlessly with Nutanix infrastructure, optimizing performance and scalability and offering simplified management. Docker provides a broad feature set with excellent developer tools, comprehensive container orchestration capabilities, and compatibility across various platforms.

Room for Improvement: NKE could enhance its ecosystem reach beyond Nutanix and improve cross-platform capabilities. It may also benefit from expanded support for diverse container orchestration tools. Docker can refine its security features, improve resource overhead management, and enhance documentation for better ease of use.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: NKE offers streamlined deployment for Nutanix environments, coupled with Nutanix's reliable support for troubleshooting. Docker provides a flexible deployment model supported by a broad community and commercial options, accommodating diverse deployment configurations beyond Nutanix's scope.

Pricing and ROI: NKE's pricing favors existing Nutanix customers, delivering cost-effective solutions with strong ROI through infrastructure optimization. Docker incurs additional enterprise feature costs, but offers high ROI with robust features and scalability, appealing across various deployment scenarios.

To learn more, read our detailed Docker vs. Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Docker vs. Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

April 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 852,649 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Docker

Ranking in Container Management

5th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Development Platforms (1st), Software Supply Chain Security (6th)

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

Ranking in Container Management

12th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Container Monitoring (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Docker is 2.7%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE is 9.1%, up from 6.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Container Management

Featured Reviews

Rikin Parekh

Backend Engineer at Northeastern University

Useful to create sandbox environments to run applications and makes it easy to test them

Overall, setting up the Docker environment is quite easy. Many methods exist, such as using Docker Compose and Docker networks to communicate between containers. The main challenge lies in designing the architecture and integrating different frameworks and microservices. I would rate the ease of setting up the tool at around nine out of ten. The time it takes to deploy depends on the scale of the system. For the early-stage startup I'm currently working with, it doesn't take much time. It's just me handling the deployment. In our early-stage startup, we have a couple of teams with around four to five backend APIs and two front-end services. Deploying these doesn't take much time. My focus is more on minimizing costs due to our lean startup structure.

Read full review

Prasanthraj PN

Sales Director at InnovationTQ

Offers efficient deployment and management with easy resource allocation, yet faces challenges in integration and compatibility

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE ( /products/nutanix-kubernetes-engine-nke-reviews ) offers easy and fast deployment, management, stability, reliability, and cost-effectiveness. The resource allocation is very simple. If we need to expand the memory, storage space, or processor core, it is very easy to manage through our central control. These features are what stand out the most.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The scalability of Docker is good."

"The most valuable feature of Docker is that it revolutionized virtualization by providing a new approach with containers that completely nullified the time it used to take to deploy applications on virtual servers, resulting in deployment times that can be as quick as milliseconds, unless it is a heavy application, such as Java. Additionally, resource utilization has greatly improved with Docker, allowing for more resources to be allocated to other tasks. These are a few key features that make Docker a preferred choice."

"The capability of the solution to convert an application into a Docker image is a vital functionality"

"Docker packages up an application as a single item that you can then run without the need to install or configure it to work on any specific machine."

"The solution is easy to deploy for clients so it saves a lot of hassle."

"The tool's most valuable feature is its sandbox environment. It makes it very easy to run and test applications without needing configurations, which is the core advantage of containerization. Kubernetes and Helm are helpful as they provide high-level metrics, making tracking the status of all the containers and applications running easier."

"The solution's most valuable feature is having containers independent of the operating system or environment."

"The most valuable features of Docker are its security, detailed documentation, and ease of use, and the Docker Swarm is not as complex as Kubernetes."

More Docker pros

"The solution is embedded in the hypervisor and there are no deployment costs."

"The solution provides no downtime features. If we face issues, we create a new port, deploy it there, and then drop the existing one. This way, we avoid NKE downtime on our website."

"The technical support is excellent."

"We can do a lot of provisioning."

"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"The solution is easy to manage. You can get everything in a single platform. It is also easy to work with Terraform as a code."

"The product integrates well with our infrastructure."

"Nutanix's support is really good."

More Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE pros

Cons

"The Kubernetes blocks need improvement since Docker has many holes in it."

"Stability is an area with a shortcoming."

"There are elements of stability that are problematic. One of the most recent upgrades created a major incident on our cloud, whereby the containers were not restarting automatically."

"We are facing multiple issues with the solution's stability."

"The volumes for persistent storage could be more user friendly right out of the box."

"I would like to see better management layers."

"Docker could improve by providing the ability to use the GPU for parallel processing. If there was the capability of using the GPU it would improve the machine learning that I want to use."

"The solution’s documentation could improve a bit."

More Docker cons

"I would like to have more nodes for availability and storage."

"We need a backup of production clusters."

"There have been challenges related to software bugs, especially regarding long-term licensing options and issues within our customer network."

"Nutanix has limitations compared to VMware, particularly in testing and industry tie-ups with different OEMs. Deploying virtual machines, especially for industrial automation, can be challenging due to compatibility issues."

"NKE could benefit from additional features that support more advanced Kubernetes functionalities and configurations."

"In the next release, I would like to have automatic dynamic scaling, both upscaling and downscaling."

"The product lacks some virtualization capabilities, making it an area for improvement where the solution can focus on providing users with more virtualization capabilities related to disk systems."

"One major issue we faced was that appliances couldn't migrate from VMware to the tool. However, this seems to be a common problem across platforms. We've seen the same issue when migrating from VMware to RHV or other solutions. It's not specifically a Nutanix problem but rather an issue migrating appliances from one VM infrastructure to another. Some kernel-level and storage-level issues impact this process."

More Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of the solution is fairly cheap."

"There is a license needed to use Docker."

"For commercial use, it's about $30 per month. The license itself isn't expensive, but if there are many users, the price becomes high."

"We use the open-source version."

"The solution offers an open-source version that is free and includes a lot of functionality."

"Since Docker is an open-source solution, it is free of cost."

"Docker has made some changes and there is an enterprise version that is affordable."

"The current cost for us is nothing as an open source."

More Docker pricing and cost advice

"The platform is averagely priced. I rate the pricing as four out of ten."

"I rate the product price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"I rate NKE's pricing a six out of ten."

"While deploying Kubernetes clusters on Nutanix is cost-effective, there may be additional costs for remote branch offices where Kubernetes is less common."

"The product's licenses are included in the software version deployed in our data center."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Container Management solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

852,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Insurance Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Docker?

We are using Docker to host applications.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Docker?

I consider Docker's pricing to be affordable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Docker?

In terms of communication between services, perhaps the configuration within networks between containers could be improved.

See all answers

What do you like most about Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?

The most valuable features of the Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) are its simplicity and efficiency during the initial cluster creation phase.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?

Nutanix has limitations compared to VMware, particularly in testing and industry tie-ups with different OEMs. Deploying virtual machines, especially for industrial automation, can be challenging du...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?

We are using Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE ( /products/nutanix-kubernetes-engine-nke-reviews ) in our organization. It is implemented on Cisco M7 ( /products/oracle-supercluster-reviews ) Series ( ...

See all answers

Comparisons

VMware Tanzu Platform vs Docker

Compared 28% of the time

Rancher Labs vs Docker

Compared 13% of the time

Mirantis Container Runtime vs Docker

Compared 13% of the time

Codespaces vs Docker

Compared 12% of the time

AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) vs Docker

Compared 7% of the time

More Docker Competitors

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

Compared 38% of the time

VMware Tanzu Platform vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

Compared 22% of the time

Kubernetes vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

Compared 11% of the time

Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

Compared 10% of the time

Portainer vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

Compared 2% of the time

More Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Docker

May 2025

Download Docker product report

Buyer's Guide

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

May 2025

Download Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE product report

Also Known As

No data available

Nutanix Karbon

Overview

Docker is a versatile container platform used for running and deploying applications in isolated environments, ensuring consistency across development, testing, and production.

Docker offers solutions for containerizing applications, automating deployments, and managing infrastructure through its robust platform. It supports CI/CD workflows, provides a development platform for container management, and simplifies the setup by using streamlined tools. Organizations leverage Docker for building microservices, running UI applications, deploying web services, and setting up secure environments. It also facilitates managing containers via Kubernetes and creating development stacks for enhanced productivity.

What are Docker's key features?

Security: Offers containment and isolation of applications.
Easy Use: Simplifies the deployment and management of applications.
Documentation: Extensive resources to aid in understanding and implementation.
Customization: Flexible environment configurations.
Scalability: Efficiently handles applications irrespective of scale.
Internal DNS: Manages network configurations within the container ecosystem.
Overlay Networks: Facilitates seamless inter-container communication.
Resource Efficiency: Optimizes usage of system resources.

What benefits should users look for?

Consistency: Ensures homogeneous environments across development, testing, and production stages.
Portability: Allows applications to run consistently on any platform.
Cost-Effectiveness: Reduces overhead costs associated with application deployment.
Speed: Accelerates the build, test, and deployment cycles.
Flexibility: Supports various tools and integrations to adapt to different workflows.

Industries implement Docker for CI/CD pipelines, scaling services, and improving resource utilization. Tech companies use Docker for building and deploying their software in isolated environments. Finance and healthcare sectors deploy applications securely, ensuring compliance with regulatory standards. Educational institutions set up consistent development environments for coding labs and training students in advanced technologies.

Docker

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) is an enterprise Kubernetes management solution that simplifies provisioning, operations, and lifecycle management of Kubernetes.

Nutanix

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen

Buyer's Guide

Docker vs. Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

April 2025

Free Report: Docker vs. Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE

Find out what your peers are saying about Docker vs. Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

852,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our Docker vs. Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE report.

See our list of best Container Management vendors.

We monitor all Container Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.